Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment hall of fame. It is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of not only human |celebrities but also fictional characters honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for their contributions to the entertainment industry. The Walk of Fame is maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. The first eight stars were dedicated in September 1958 and placed in the sidewalk on the northwest corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave. They were installed several months prior to the official 1960 Walk of Fame ground-breaking so as to be ready when the new, twelve-story First Federal Savings and Loan of Hollywood building was completed, in January 1959. The largest collection of Walk of Fame photos is the Bruce Torrence Hollywood Historical Collection. Characteristics The Walk of Fame runs east on Hollywood Boulevard from Gower Avenue to La Brea Avenue and south to north on Vine Street between Yucca Street and Sunset Boulevard. The Walk of Fame is nearly a three-and-a-half-(3 1/2)-mile (5.6km) round-trip walk. Locations of specific stars are permanent, except when occasionally relocated for nearby construction or other reasons. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is sought after as much as Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, BAFTA, and Golden Globe awards. Each star consists of a pink terrazzo five-pointed star rimmed with bronze and inlaid into a charcoal square. Inside the pink star is the name of the honoree inlaid in bronze, below which is a round bronze emblem indicating the category for which the honoree received the star. The emblems are: * Motion picture camera for contribution to the film industry * Television set for contribution to the broadcast television industry * Phonograph record for contribution to the recording industry * Radio microphone for contribution to the broadcast radio industry * Twin comedy/tragedy masks for contribution to live theater Nominations are submitted annually by May 31, and the Walk of Fame committee meets the following month to pick the next year's group of honorees. Star ceremonies are open to the public and formerly were led by honorary Hollywood mayor Johnny Grant prior to his death in 2008. History Origins The Walk of Fame was created in 1958. The original stars were installed by Consolidated Terrazzo Company. Many honorees received multiple stars during the initial phase of installation for contributions to separate categories; however, the practice in recent decades has been to honor individuals not yet represented, with only a handful of previous honorees being awarded additional stars. In 1978, the city of Los Angeles designated the Walk of Fame as a Historic-Cultural Monument. By 1994, more than 2,000 of the original stars were filled, and additional stars extended the Walk west past Sycamore to La Brea Avenue, where it now ends at the Silver Four Ladies of Hollywood Gazebo. Restoration In July 2008, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced that the Walk of Fame will undergo a US$4.2-million face-lift.Peter Frampton's star is a safety hazard? 778 stars will have to be replaced because of the wear and tear that they have undergone since they were first laid down. Some of the stars have become so damaged that they are tripping hazards to tourists who traverse the walk. At the same time, Hollywood Chamber announced the Friends of Walk of Fame program will begin, with Absolut Vodka becoming the first Friend; it will be given an award on private property in front of the Kodak Theatre, as the first major contributor to the restoration process. This program is a collaboration between the Hollywood Chamber and various city entities. Firsts *Gene Autry is the only person to have been honored with all five possible stars, for his contribution in each of the five categories. *On January 24, 2007, Los Angeles television station and CW network affiliate KTLA-TV (Channel 5) became the first television service (station or network) to be honored with a star on the Walk of Fame. The picture on KTLA's star shows a satellite dish, recognizing the station's pioneer status as the first West Coast TV station carried by satellite to viewers from Greenland to Panama. * Ronald Reagan is the only President of the United States to have a star. He got his star for his work as an actor prior to his career in politics. * Anna May Wong is the only Asian-American female to have a star (as of 2008); all other Asian-Americans that have been awarded stars are male. Star nomination process The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce "Walk of Fame Committee" is responsible for selecting a new group of entertainers each year to receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. New recipients are announced each June for the following year. In order for a person to get a star on the Walk of Fame, he or she must agree to attend a presentation ceremony within five years of selection, and a $25,000 fee must be paid to the Trust for costs such as security at the star ceremony; a 2003 FOX News story noted that the fee is often paid by sponsors such as film studios and record companies, as part of the publicity for a release with which the honoree is involved. On other occasions, the fee is paid by a fan club. Often, it is paid by the nominating person himself or herself. List of stars Footnotes External links *Hollywood Walk of Fame official website *Hollywood Walk of Fame at Google maps *Hollywood Walk of Fame interactive tour guide for mobile phones - hwof.mobi *Hollywood Walk of Fame interactive tour guide for PC - hwof.com *Hollywood Walk of Fame at Seeing-Stars.com *Hollywood Boulevard's Price of Fame, a December 2003 article from the FOX News website *[http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/336/articles/Volume%205/05-19-05/stars.html Scientists' Walk of Fame] - a prank by Caltech students on May 4, 2005